I think this must refer to the time after 1852 when Victoria's Legislative Council passed a Convicts Prevention Act which decreed that all overstraiters ( ex VDL ) must prove that they were unconditionally free or face the prospect of serving another 3 years' hard labour in irons. Indeed Robert Hughes wrote : "Victorians took a considerable , indeed an exaggerated pride in the thought that their colony had not - at least not primarily- been a convict settlement...... they were not merely dismayed but outraged when gold brought a rush of emancipated convicts from Van Diemens Land." This is the attitude which led to the introduction of the above anti convict legislation in Victoria , and to the stain permanently attached to them from their past , even if they were unconditionally free and trying to start a new life. David in Brisbane ----- Original Message ----- From: "graham dixon" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2002 7:42 AM Subject: [TAS-CONVICTS] re: convicts to Victoria > Hi Anne > If you get off list responses to the query about source of the assertion > that ex convicts were not supposed to be in Victoria can you let me know > please. > The claim stunned me momentarily, I had thought is was quite a common > occurence. I, also, would like this verified please. > Of the couple who became my wife's pioneer ancestors in New Zealand > after marrying in Melbourne, three of their four parents were ex > Tasmanian convicts and they had all been in Victoria some time before > the wedding took place. > thanks > Graham Dixon > (Auckland, New Zealand) > > > > ==== AUS-TAS-CONVICTS Mailing List ==== > Please link your webpages to the Australian Families Webring and Tasmanian Convicts - let's unite!!! The navigation bar is located at: > Http://hometown.aol.com/romniroser/myhomepage/newsletter.html > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >